Re: [RFC 0/5] [TALPA] Intro to a linux interface for on access scanning

Alan Cox
2008-08-05T12:41:31Z

> Remember, the big issue here isn't the kernel "hooks", but the fact that
> a lot of people are yet to be convinced that something like this needs
> to be within the kernel itself.

Mostly the same people who said that about LSM I note 8)

> Perhaps we should dig up the proposals for the filesystem-notify type
> patches, something like that might be all the majority of the virus
> people need, as they want to just scan things for Windows viruses, not
> Linux ones, and to do so "lazily" might be sufficient.

The key difference between a lazy scan and an active intervention is tiny
- the ability to block in the security decision to open a file.

Once you have that bit you have the ability to hand the file handle up to
a daemon to chew on and return a status. The same co-incidentally gives
you the hooks for doing various kinds of HSM as you can block an open
while you retrieve the archived content from wherever it was warehoused.

Alan